Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gemstone 08-30-07, 02:19 PM	I'm currently crafting an epic campaign and I've reached a point were I can present one of the epic npc villains (or pseudo-villain, as he's after the PC's for another reason than the main villain is). His stats can be found here (http://www.aer.cloudspike.com/Azrak%20the%20Planeshifted.pdf). I would very much like comments, so feel free to say what you think. Blue feats are bonus feats, and we use a house ruling that lets you take Improved Toughness more than once, as it's a way to get high hp, but low power enemies. Azrak isn't really built for pure optimization though... he's built mostly with the idea of a massive armored dwarf that casts spells with minimum chance of failure (This case, 10%). I'll develop him further down the road as he increases in levels and I'll consider any ideas you give me :)
BillTheManiac 08-30-07, 03:17 PM	This guy's a gish. Gishes don't do save DCs, mostly. Do ISC for uberer buffs instead.
SokenzanMarauder 08-30-07, 03:37 PM	You can't take Improved Toughness more than once. -Gene
Gemstone 08-30-07, 04:04 PM	You can't take Improved Toughness more than once. -Gene Ah, yes. another thing I should've said... we allow Improved toughness more than once, due to undead PC's with low hp :) Thus, enemies benefit from that too. Also, while he's a gish yes, he's also an archmage, known for his feriocity with powerful spells. He channels spells into his weapons, to throw them at his enemies as he hits, thus the heightened save DC for his spells :)
SokenzanMarauder 08-30-07, 04:34 PM	Ah, yes. another thing I should've said... we allow Improved toughness more than once, due to undead PC's with low hp :) Thus, enemies benefit from that too. Why not just ask the DM to allow you to take Unholy Toughness as a feat? Your HD multiplied by your CHA modifier in extra hit-points. Goooood stuff. -Gene
Gemstone 08-30-07, 04:40 PM	Why not just ask the DM to allow you to take Unholy Toughness as a feat? Your HD multiplied by your CHA modifier in extra hit-points. Goooood stuff. -Gene Actually, that's a good idea, but we all agreed to use Improved toughness more than once (creates high hp, but not to powerful opponents. longer battles can sometimes be fun. Very few villains actually use this) Also, I am the DM! :D
bluemage55 08-31-07, 01:24 AM	Spellsword is bleh... Losing 5 caster levels (which are immeasuarably valuable) in order to get armor (which is not that valuable) and channel spell (which is only decent, as it requires a move action, preventing a full attack) is not worth it. Eldritch Knight would be better. I would recommend Fighter 2/Wizard 6/Eldritch Knight 14/Archmage 5. You give up armor, channel spell, and 2 non-epic metamagic/item creation feats to gain 3 caster levels, a bonus epic feat, and Spell Power x5.
Gemstone 08-31-07, 02:19 AM	Spellsword is bleh... Losing 5 caster levels (which are immeasuarably valuable) in order to get armor (which is not that valuable) and channel spell (which is only decent, as it requires a move action, preventing a full attack) is not worth it. Eldritch Knight would be better. I would recommend Fighter 2/Wizard 6/Eldritch Knight 14/Archmage 5. You give up armor, channel spell, and 2 non-epic metamagic/item creation feats to gain 3 caster levels, a bonus epic feat, and Spell Power x5. hehe... well, as I said, I don't build to optimize all characters I make... he's basicly built for being a gish and armor is a part of him as character. Having a massive armored dwarf covered in runes waiting for the PC's is a part of it. Plus, channel spell is one hell of a surprise for the first PC. He's supposed to be a recurring enemy, so Eldrich Knight is a viable option for the future (That Clone spell has its uses...). Seeing his archnemesis being undead though, will probably channel him into picking up something to combat them.
bluemage55 08-31-07, 03:39 AM	hehe... well, as I said, I don't build to optimize all characters I make... he's basicly built for being a gish and armor is a part of him as character. Having a massive armored dwarf covered in runes waiting for the PC's is a part of it. Plus, channel spell is one hell of a surprise for the first PC. You could use Automatic Still Spell (my revised version, which condenses it into one feat) to allow the armor. Admittedly, you would still need Spellsword if you really wanted Channel Spell.
runestar 08-31-07, 03:56 AM	With practiced spellcaster, you can afford to lose up to 4 caster lvs. 2 taken up by fighter1 and eldritch knight, so you can actually afford to take up to 5 lvs in spellsword. Mithral fullplate has an ASF of 25%. 5 lvs of spellsword brings that down to 10%, and twillight takes care of this remaining 10%. Either that or take epic spellcasting for epic mage armour. See, it is not that hard to roleplay and rollplay both at the same time.:) You have 27 class lvs to work with, so I would go fighter1/wiz6/EK10/spellsword5/archmage5. But what the heck is spell power x 3? Epic feats are tricky, as there are quite a few which can benefit you. Multispell is always nice to have, as is auto-quicken. Nor are his combat tactics really good. You are wasting too many rounds buffing, rounds which the PCs will be debuffing you just as readily while beating down on you. I would just assume that he starts combat with all relevant buffs in place. After all, spells like greater heroism and stoneskin have fairly long durations, so it is not unreasonable for him to cast it beforehand in anticipation of a tough fight. Combat should ideally have him making full attacks each round combined with 1-2 quickened spells for him to be of any threat. Likewise, his stats are fairly weak (unless you plan on utilizing shapechange, but I do not see that memorized anywhere). He is not going to be hitting anyone with an attack roll of +29, unless you use wraithstrike, and even then, his damage output is very poor, even with power attack, since you are only wielding your weapon 1-handed. At least make his shield animated so he can wield his warhammer with both hands. His choice of spells memorized is not that great either. I wouldn't expect hold monster to work too much (despite pit fiend having it as an attack option) due to the prevalance of counters like good saves, freedom of movement or mindblank. Nor do you have battlefield control. Consider investing in spells like forcecage, maze, repulsion, prismatic sphere and solid fog to divide the PCs, perhaps using timestop to churn them out ASAP. More will come later.
Gemstone 08-31-07, 04:47 AM	With practiced spellcaster, you can afford to lose up to 4 caster lvs. 2 taken up by fighter1 and eldritch knight, so you can actually afford to take up to 5 lvs in spellsword. Mithral fullplate has an ASF of 25%. 5 lvs of spellsword brings that down to 10%, and twillight takes care of this remaining 10%. Either that or take epic spellcasting for epic mage armour. See, it is not that hard to roleplay and rollplay both at the same time.:) You have 27 class lvs to work with, so I would go fighter1/wiz6/EK10/spellsword5/archmage5. But what the heck is spell power x 3? Epic feats are tricky, as there are quite a few which can benefit you. Multispell is always nice to have, as is auto-quicken. Check the end of the document. there's a new feat there calld Spell Power. I've revised some epic feats, making it on pair with the epic spell focus. I felt it was needed, because epic saves quickly outstrip save DC's. Nor are his combat tactics really good. You are wasting too many rounds buffing, rounds which the PCs will be debuffing you just as readily while beating down on you. I would just assume that he starts combat with all relevant buffs in place. After all, spells like greater heroism and stoneskin have fairly long durations, so it is not unreasonable for him to cast it beforehand in anticipation of a tough fight. Combat should ideally have him making full attacks each round combined with 1-2 quickened spells for him to be of any threat. I'll let him start with basicly a listen check and see how long it takes for him to notice them (depending on were he is. If they attack him in his sanctum, they'll meet him fully buffed). His tactis are if they met him at the top of his tower in amn (which chances are decreasing for). It's basicly how I would run him as unbuffed. As he stands now, he's a threat to them :) Likewise, his stats are fairly weak (unless you plan on utilizing shapechange, but I do not see that memorized anywhere). He is not going to be hitting anyone with an attack roll of +29, unless you use wraithstrike, and even then, his damage output is very poor, even with power attack, since you are only wielding your weapon 1-handed. At least make his shield animated so he can wield his warhammer with both hands. The highest AC of the party is 39 for the moment. the dancing shield though, is something I will think off... his wealth is very stretched thin as it is. His choice of spells memorized is not that great either. I wouldn't expect hold monster to work too much (despite pit fiend having it as an attack option) due to the prevalance of counters like good saves, freedom of movement or mindblank. The npc Lich has a will saving throw of +20, thus giving him a grand total of 30% chance to save against it... the paladin has +22 IIRC, giving him a 40% chance to save. It will at least annoy them ;) Nor do you have battlefield control. Consider investing in spells like forcecage, maze, repulsion, prismatic sphere and solid fog to divide the PCs, perhaps using timestop to churn them out ASAP. My PC's are very straightfoward in their tactics... while very good, it's not really needed for this character :) But I will add some of them as he levels up though. The maximum number of players in the game is 2+1 npc. they're currently ECL 22, and he'll face them quite soon, so he'll be a threat to them. We don't optimize as much as you guys (I still admire the things you post ;)), but this guy really doesn't need the extreme optimization. If Twilight works on any armor, he'll have 0% spell-failure and he'll greatly benefit from his AC. the vampire paladin (the groups main tank) needs a '20' in order to hit him currently, so his AC isn't a problem. Also, the PC's only mage, is a rather whimsical npc Lich (prone to yelling "FIRBEALL" at inappropriate situations. the paladin vampire has some spells (he gave me the idea with the spellsword. the ideal idea was to let them face eachother and battle it out). So their hp and such are quite low, even with the improved toughness alternate rule. But I will adjust the spell list a bit. You gave me some really good ideas :) can't be too evil though... both the PC's and him is supposed to survive.
Gemstone 08-31-07, 04:51 AM	Just realized that Hold Monster, mass, is a mind affecting spell... I'll change that into some other spell :)
runestar 08-31-07, 08:55 AM	The highest AC of the party is 39 for the moment. the dancing shield though, is something I will think off... his wealth is very stretched thin as it is. You could consider changing his gear into their non-epic versions to free up some cash. You don't really need a +6 weapon when you could be having a +1 unholy undead bane whatever weapon and boosting it to +5 via greater magic weapon. Vampire paladin tank...:thinks: That is one heck of a party you have there...:D Check the end of the document. there's a new feat there calld Spell Power. I've revised some epic feats, making it on pair with the epic spell focus. I felt it was needed, because epic saves quickly outstrip save DC's. True that - though players typically compensate by revising their strategies such that it is less reliant on saves, rather than trying to continuously punch though.:) Unless of course, you are playing a shadowcrafter mage - then all the more you want your foes to make their saves...:D If Twilight works on any armor, he'll have 0% spell-failure and he'll greatly benefit from his AC. the vampire paladin (the groups main tank) needs a '20' in order to hit him currently, so his AC isn't a problem. Hmm...odd. A fighter should have an attack rating of at least +40 by now, though I suppose that the LA+8 of the vampire template is fairly crippling. Still, +30 seems quite low. +13bab, +30+str, +5weapon - crap...that seems about right...:embarrass
Gemstone 08-31-07, 01:27 PM	You could consider changing his gear into their non-epic versions to free up some cash. You don't really need a +6 weapon when you could be having a +1 unholy undead bane whatever weapon and boosting it to +5 via greater magic weapon Okay, I'm metagaming and I'm known to be very evil when it comes to bane, but I won't equip him with anti-undead weapons yet ;) Also, greater magic weapon is dispelable, which is a problem. Vampire paladin tank...:thinks: That is one heck of a party you have there...:D You don't say? He had a dire bat as mount before rebuilding himself into a spellsword. I couldn't deal with having an npc sorceror (I just can't!) so I rebuilt him into a wizard/archmage. He rebuilt himself to a spellsword. True that - though players typically compensate by revising their strategies such that it is less reliant on saves, rather than trying to continuously punch though.:) We've agreed to not touch the most overpowered or odd material (orb spells, get out of my life!). So they will change, but it will take time to get there... after all, they have to deal with the spiders first... Unless of course, you are playing a shadowcrafter mage - then all the more you want your foes to make their saves...:D I still don't get how that's possible :) link? Hmm...odd. A fighter should have an attack rating of at least +40 by now, though I suppose that the LA+8 of the vampire template is fairly crippling. Still, +30 seems quite low. +13bab, +30+str, +5weapon - crap...that seems about right...:embarrass Come to think of it... he has a 36 strength, +13 BAB and a +5 weapon. that leaves him at a grand total of 13+13+5 = +31 in attack without weapon focus. He has weapon focus, leaving him at +32, so I miscalculated earlier. But you bring up some really good points... the +6 is more to make him seem "Epic" than for actual benefit :) I'll change that into something else, cheapening the sword. Maybe a spell storing or something... after all, the difference is: 7*7*2000 = 50k or: (6 epic + 1 normal)*7*10*2000 = 980 000 a grand total of 930 000 unless I'm mistaken. Woah... expensive.
runestar 08-31-07, 11:20 PM	I still don't get how that's possible link? Shadowcraft mage relies on cranking up those shadow conjuration/evocation spells. Normally, if the foe makes his save, the spells only have a limited effect, say 20-40% of their original effect. The build is able to crank this percentage up to well over 100%. So a typical scenario goes like this - if the foe fails his save, he takes 100% of the effect of the spell duplicated via shadow evocation. But if he makes his save, he now takes 120% of the spell's original effect. Try asking the CO boards for a better summary. I haven't fully understood the intricacies of this build myself.:P
Bloodsoul 09-10-07, 10:54 PM	Hope he turns out better than our NPC Villain Epic Wizard. Lv30 Necromancer slain my a Lv16 Sorcerer's "Finger of Death"; oh, the humiliation. ..and the delicious irony.
Gemstone 09-11-07, 02:52 AM	Hope he turns out better than our NPC Villain Epic Wizard. Lv30 Necromancer slain my a Lv16 Sorcerer's "Finger of Death"; oh, the humiliation. ..and the delicious irony. Actually, he will :) I've added a couple of protective stuff to him, which includes immunity to death attacks. But thanks for the tip